EEEC Busts More Agricultural Businesses

Investigators from the California Economic and Employment Enforcement Coalition (EEEC) visited 47 agricultural businesses in Northern California earlier this month, including nurseries, greenhouses, landscapers, farm labor contractors, dairies and growers. They cited 30 of the 47 businesses for various labor law violations, issuing $107,500 in penalties. The violations included failure to maintain workers’ compensation insurance; failure to provide itemized deductions to employees; and failure to provide worker’s permit documentation for minors. Almost two-thirds of the businesses were found to be violating the law on easy-to-prove issues. Employers and their attorneys often ask, rhetorically, why there are so many wage and hour lawsuits. The answer is simple: because there are so many companies out there that refuse to follow the law.